In the sleepy, picturesque towns and villages of south-west Germany, the paragons of thrift are doing what they do best. They shop frugally, use credit cards rarely and save up to a third of a property's value before applying for a mortgage.
The schwäbische Hausfrau – southern Germany's thrifty Swabian housewife – is frequently invoked by Angela Merkel. The German chancellor argues that Europe has been living beyond its means and can learn from these women's frugal housekeeping and balanced budgeting.
Heide Sickinger and Waltraud Maier, two housewives from Gerlingen [D], near Stuttgart, agree. "A housewife keeps the family together and the money," says Maier. "I don't buy on credit. People never used to live beyond their means here," she adds, before noting that the younger generation are more cavalier. She and her friend only use credit cards when they go on holiday, and make sure they have enough money in their accounts to pay off the debt immediately. Both believe that "southern Europeans are a different breed. They are more easy-going".
The two women say that they only tend to buy what they really need (with the exception of a flatscreen TV). Even a wardrobe counts as a luxury purchase – because Swabians don't buy cheap. They value quality, which means a wardrobe has to be solid wood, so it lasts a lifetime.
Similarly, the two women buy their food at the butcher's, local farms and markets, rather than at discount supermarkets such as Aldi and Lidl. "The quality is better," says Maier, "and you can buy two carrots rather than a whole kilogramme." She never throws anything away – old bread is made into bread dumplings, for example. Many people in this rural area grow their own fruit and vegetables, and bottle or pickle them. » | Julia Kollewe in Gerlingen | Monday, September 17, 2012
